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Knights, Lightning to play back-to-back in unprecedented Sunday at Budweiser Gardens 0

London Knights forward Bo Horvat rests after a skating drill at Budweiser Gardens Monday, but Gardens staff may need rest after turning the Knights’ arena into the Lightning’s hoops court in just hours Sunday. (DEREK RUTTAN, The London Free Press)

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Just when you thought there was no way for fans to get any more excited about the London Lightning and London Knights, someone finds a way of jacking up the interest another notch.

If the Lightning and Knights generate great interest in their games on separate days, imagine what it would be like if both teams played on the same day.

We’re going to find out Sunday when both the defending Ontario Hockey League champions and defending National Basketball League of Canada champions do just that.

The Knights will play the second game of their best-of-seven OHL Western Conference semifinal against the Kitchener Rangers Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

The moment that game ends, staff at Budweiser Gardens will begin turning the rink into a basketball venue for the second game of the Lightning’s best-of-five NBL final against either the Windsor Express or Summerside Storm at 7:30 p.m.

It is the first time the facility will stage two different sports on the same day.

Not that the popular Knights need to generate a lot more interest in their club.

But they can always sell a few more tickets.

The Lightning will be riding a little piggyback on the Knights Sunday. They hope some of the Knights’ fans will stick around to take in the evening game.

As it is, the Knights will probably sell out while the Lightning expect big crowds.

“We’re looking forward to having our biggest crowds ever for Saturday and Sunday,” Lightning owner Vito Frijia said at a well-attended press conference.

Other than banners hanging from the Gardens’ ceiling, seeing Lightning and Knights paraphernalia in the same room is a rarity.

This is the first hint of co-operation between the two teams.

The Knights are the main tenant at the Gardens and have been since it opened in 2002. The Lightning came in last year and made quite a splash in the community. With another tenant in the building there were times when the Knights had to pack up their gear and practice at Western Fair Sports Centre.

“There’s no problem. I’m happy to be able to do this with them,” Hunter said. “It’s great for the city when everyone is successful.”

At the podium Hunter even cracked wise about one other advantage of having the teams play on the same day.

“One big positive thing, we can see this through that parking will only cost you one time when you come down,” he said.

Gary Turrell, director of operations for the Gardens says the fastest the venue has been transformed from the rink to the basketball court was two hours. Since the beginning of the year, the operations’ crew has changed the venue from hockey to basketball to concerts about 60 times already.

“But I think we can do it faster,” he said. “On Sunday we’ll have everyone helping where they can to get it done.”

Turrell will have 25 people working on getting the venue transformed.

The building will have to be cleared between games but Turrell said a meeting was planned to see if it was logistically possible to let fans back in as soon as possible so they could actually see the building being readied for the basketball game.

The biggest concern on that day will be what happens if the Knights go into an extended overtime.

Brian Ohl, general manager of the Gardens, wasn’t concerned about overtime.

“I have all the confidence in the world with the way the London Knights are playing, that won’t happen,” Ohl said. “With (overtime) I think it will still be fine. If they go four OTs we might be in trouble.”

It was Ohl and the staff at the Gardens who came up with the idea and floated it to both the Lightning and Knights. It another business Ohl would be called a power broker.

It’s a natural coming together of the two biggest sports forces in the city.

Two games on the same day in the same building . . . not quit as complicated as the splitting of the atom but it’s something different and different really sells especially in this city.